One other point. Having re-read you original complaint and the "form
letter" (again your words) reply. I am now convinced that United apologized
appropriately for their misservices to you and your companion. I think the
offer of $200.00 voucher more than compensated for the relatively minor
inconvenience you experienced on your return flight from Hawaii.

The "voucher was a sufficient apology" argument just doesn't hold
water. Almost any letter of complaint written to the airlines
(yes, all of the major airlines engage in this practice) will receive
the same "compensation" in return. These vouchers are really little
more than an incentive to the letter writer to be a repeat customer,
urging them to spend thousands of dollars more on the airline to which
they were complaining. At any rate, in the case of our own travel
plans for the coming year, the vouchers were completely useless.

As to the
outward trip you described in which you blame United for delaying a flight
and not getting you on another, I believe you are not completely without
some culpability here. I any regard, there was no damage done to you, you
made your trip on schedule. You simply seem upset that you had to change
your travel plans to do so and think that United was less than helpful. I
can't tell you how many times that has happened to me, on United and on
other airlines. The solution is to pay attention and take some
responsibility for yourself not relying on the airlines to look out for you.

I'm curious as to how you reached this conclusion. A few lines later,
you imply that the solution is to take responsibility for yourself.
Once again, I hope you will agree that neither of the following
possibilities are reasonable expectations to place on travelers:

barge to the front of the line immediately upon arriving at the
airport and check to make sure that your flight has not been delayed

take a taxi between terminals rather than wait for the shuttle bus,
as instructed by the United agent who has arranged your alternate
routing (by the way, we explicitly asked the agent whether we would
have enough time to take the bus, and were assured there would be no
problem)

Naturally, travelers should take some initiative where appropriate,
but under these circumstances, failing to obey the instructions of
airline personnel, who are supposedly there because they have been
trained to do their jobs, is not going to solve any problems.

Reasonable people, with genuine motives and a willingness to compromise
can often find amicable solutions to any problem. You sir are overboard and
United is neither better nor worse than any other airline in the world.

I am certainly willing to compromise, and do not believe I have made
any unreasonable demands on United. I simply asked them for an apology
and they repeatedly refused. As for your assertion that United is
neither better nor worse than any other airline in the world, I am glad
that this is far from the truth. Domestically, United has one of the
worst records for safety, on-time performance, mishandled baggage, and
overall service (please see http://www.untied.com/ual/stats/).
Internationally, when one considers the performance of most European
and Southeast Asian airlines, United is a disgrace.

I hope I have addressed your concerns. If there is anything further
you wish to discuss, please don't hesitate to contact me.

Creating an entire website to mock those same employees is, to me,
inconsiderate and uncivil.

The purpose of my web site is most certainly not to mock United
employees (please read the "if you work for United" section), but
rather, to provide:

a service for prospective passengers by alerting them to United
Airlines' attitude towards its customers

a forum for past passengers to voice their complaints, in the hopes
that United will pay attention and act appropriately to respond to them

The most recent "story of
the week" featured in my web pages is a perfect example of this
second point. I am presenting United with an opportunity to act
responsibly and reimburse these passengers for their lost baggage,
after three previous attempts through normal channels failed to elicit
anything more than a brush-off.

... let me take this opportunity to illustrate a
significant difference in the treatment that Sony and United
Airlines show their respective customers. Approximately nine
years ago, I purchased a Sony walkman that, after half a year,
began exhibiting some audio problems in the right channel. I
brought in the unit for repair under warranty, but the problem
resurfaced shortly thereafter. After a second repair, I left
Canada to spend a year abroad, and again, the repair proved to
be insufficient. By now, however, the warranty period had
expired, and I was required to pay for the third repair.
Furthermore, because the required part was not in stock, I had
to wait an additional month before the unit was returned to me.
I wrote a letter to Sony, explaining my frustration, and not
only did they send me a prompt reply with a full reimbursement
for the repair, they also included an additional replacement
part in case it was ever needed in the future. While this
experience does not necessarily speak well of authorized Sony
repair centers, it says a great deal about the respect that the
company shows to its customers.

3) We posted record profits in 1996 and were voted as having the best mileage
plus program, the best trans Atlantic carrier and several other prestigious
awards. If we were so bad, I doubt that we would have been honored in this way.

Yes, I am aware of these awards. Other readers of my web pages, as
well as the many other passengers who have shared similar experiences
as the ones described, are no doubt incredulous that United continues
to earn enormous profits and be so honored. However, as the word
spreads of your company's callous disregard for its passengers, I
expect that either United's profits will drop, or your airline will
be forced to change its attitude.

4) Quite frankly, it's a shame that you waste your time being so negative
about this Mr. Cooperstock. Nothing is perfect in this life.

Quite true, nothing is perfect. However, I believe that there are
minimal standards of service that we are all entitled to expect when
spending several thousand dollars on air travel. Since it's relevant,
allow me to repeat a section from my reply to another individual:

Actually, I am in general a very happy person and have almost
always been satisfied with the service received during my air
travel. However, like most human beings, I tend to get upset
when people treat me rudely and then damage my personal
property.

[In reply to: "If you could channel your negative energy into
helping others this world would be a much better place."]

That is exactly what I am trying to do through these web pages.
After the lack of a serious reply to my two polite letters to
United, it soon became obvious that this airline had little
concern for its passengers. I have already heard from a good
many other passengers who are sorry that they didn't read my
web pages before choosing an airline. Those who did (like the
recent January 21 letter indicates) will hopefully enjoy a
pleasant flight rather than suffering.

I have been quite gratified to receive notes from other United
employees, stating that there is no excuse for the poor service we
received during our travels and agreeing that United's reply to our
letters was unsatisfactory. If you believe otherwise, that is
certainly your right.

You may be addressing the assumptions that some passengers make, but
this is irrelevant to anything posted at my site. If UAL is serious
about improving, might I suggest that it starts by:

Reading the letters received from its passengers and replying
to them promptly and seriously, rather than waiting several weeks before
sending back an insulting form letter and travel voucher;

apologizing to the passengers who have been mistreated, and offering
them fair and reasonable compensation; for example, reimbursement
for lost luggage, full refunds for unusable tickets, differential
reimbursement for denial of or inability to provide booked
class-of-service, cost-of-clothing refund for articles damaged by
flight attendants, etc.;

promptly firing employees who have repeatedly demonstrated abusive
or incompetent behaviour and rewarding (through salary bonuses and/or
stock options) those who are deserving of praise;

instituting mandatory customer service training for all employees who
deal with passengers, and providing an effective feedback mechanism for
comments and suggestions to reach these employees; and

developing and encouraging a sense of responsibility for your actions
and the honesty to admit fault when the airline has made an error.

Although you have avoided addressing any of the serious issues raised
in my web site, preferring instead to deny that UAL could be at fault,
allow me to reply to your points, very briefly:

1. Other airlines do not experience delays.

It just happens to be that United's on-time performance is improving every
month. We happen to operate hubs in cities which tend to experience
a higher-share of air traffic control flow delays than other carriers.
This problem is esspecially tough on us at our SFO, LAX, and ORD...

Nowhere in my web site does anyone state that other airlines do not
experience delays. On the contrary, we acknowledge that United is
improving in this regard, but that it is still ranked poorly.

2. Safety

Safety at all times and in all things. It is our corporate moto and is
the most most important aspect of our company. Our pilot's receive the
best training the industry has the offer. Our Denver flight training
facility has more simulators and technological aids than any other...

While it may be your corporate motto, the FAA-compiled statistics do
not support any assertion that United is doing well compared to the
other airlines. Please read the Prospective
Passengers page.

3. We cancel flight for loads.

Three weeks before your scheduled flight we decide which specific
aircraft will fly the route. The decision is based on maintenance and
other schedules. When we cancel a flight it puts this very detailed
plan in limbo and costs us much more than the canceled flight. To put
it short, we do not cancel flights for poor flight loads...

Mileage Plus is one of the most generous frequent flier-programs in the
industry. Just look at our enrollment numbers and you will see that it
is also the most popular. Upgrades are a perk that we enjoy...

Nowhere in my web site does anyone question the enrollment numbers or
the quality of your Mileage Plus program. The issues dealt with under
"Premier Class and Frequent Flyer" are
the proposed reductions to the award structure, the remaining
"economy-comfort" seats in business class, various incidences of
passengers denied their upgrade seat, and general rudeness and
incompetence the frequent flyers have been shown.

5. Uncomfortable seating.

United is replacing every seat on every plane. Fly on one of our new
A319's, A320's or 777's and in all classes of service we offer a new
type of seat. We are the only airline to have adjustable
...
For the passenger of flight 863, we are installing new connoissuer
class seat on all of our wide-body aircraft with lumbar supports and
new leg rests. We have one of the largest fleets, so the change will
take a few months.

Note: Since then, this matter has been resolved. Of course, many
other problems remain outstanding.

In closing, please understand that we do not intentionally try to
frustrate travelers. I will never make an excuse for a rude
employee-because there is no excuse. Yet, I feel that this page is
full of stories written on false assumtions. United is Rising to meet
your expectations and the changes will not happen overnight...

Although some readers have reported the existence of a deliberate
effort to frustrate travelers (on the part of flight attendants who are
trying to force management to the bargaining table), this remains an
unsupported claim for now. More to the point, though, you feel that
the stories reported on my web site are based on "false assumptions"
but have done nothing to correct these, beyond dishing out more of the
tired, UAL company line. Please read what
your pilots have to say about the new hollow ad campaign vs. paying
attention to the criticisms leveled against your company in my web
pages.